Reflection on My Trip Abroad

I enjoyed every minute of my study abroad experience. It seemed a little unorganized when I first arrived at the school but it soon got much better. Registering for courses took a lot longer than expected and was not as simplistic as so in the United States. But that was really my only issue with the entire trip. I got to travel to Kumasi, Takoradi, Accra, and Busua. I tried so many different foods and learned how to prepare a few. My personal favorite was the Indomie which is similar to the Ramen Instant Noodles that we have in the U.S. Indomie is fried with vegetables and eggs unlike ramen which is boiled. Its also pretty cheap so just like college life in the U.S., I lived off of unhealthy instant meals. I learned so much about Ghanaian culture and how the college life is there in comparison to here. I went to the beach more times than I can count. I went to the "hall week" which is pretty much a party that each dorm throws during the Spring semester. I lived without internet for the majority of the semester, but I was having so much fun socializing and staying outside because of the heat that I barely even missed it.

Unfortunately, I did not extend my stay abroad but I do hope to go back within the next few years. I have kept in touch with a few close friends that I made while at UCC. So I know that I always have a place to stay and they are more than welcome here.

While abroad, I met a girl who told me that she had been a member of the Peace Corps after she had graduated from college. She went to India and thought it was a great opportunity for her and told me to look into it. While I am not sure if Ill get accepted to that program I have been looking into it as an option for when I graduate next fall. I would love to go back to Africa and maybe experience a different part of it. I think joining Peace Corps is a great way to do so. I would like to do something related to teaching or youth outreach. 

I still would like to pursue a career in fashion and I definitely think my time in Cape Coast encouraged that. I loved studying the fashion and textiles there. One of the things that I noticed was that a lot of the clothing that you could buy ready made was excess clothing from the U.S. I had read about this online, but it was different to see in person. I personally think having these resellers of American clothing is hurting the garment industry in Ghana since the American clothing was usually cheaper than getting clothes made. I would like to do more research on that subject to see if the citizens of Ghana find this to be a good or bad thing. 

For my Follow-on Service Project, I did not start working on it until I started school again in the fall. My professor thought it would be a good idea for me to make this project an independent study course so that I would get credit for it on my transcript. My goals for this project was to use traditional prints such as kente or batik and make contemporary silhouettes. I definitely think I was successful. It took a little longer than expected. I underestimates how long fittings and draping would take but in the end I am very happy with what I created. The looks are very wearable together or with other non African pieces. I still have some fabric left over so I hope to continue making pieces for my portfolio or to sell. The population I was trying to reach was the fashion majors at my school. I wanted to show that study abroad is very much an achievable goal regardless of your financial situation. Also Paris or Milan are not the only places to study fashion. Style in West African and Africa in general is like no other. People tend to think of Africa as a large zoo and that is not the case at all. The textiles there hold so much beauty and history and it should not be overlooked. I have talked to my professor that helped me with the pieces I created and she completely agrees. As a result, the other Advanced Construction class that she teaches has to use African print textile for the final project. 

I am going to enter my garments into the Club Vogue fashion show in December. Club Vogue is the only fashion club on campus and each semester they hold a fashion show using the projects that students have submitted. By doing this I will be able to showcase my work to the entire school.

 I have also created a blog to showcase my work. I hope to continue with the blog as I create more pieces from the fabric I still have.